Department for Transport

European Aviation Safety Agency

Iain Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the costs and benefits of the UK remaining a member of the European Aviation Safety Agency after the UK has left the EU.

Mr John Hayes: The Government is considering carefully all the potential implications arising from the UK’s exit from the EU, including the implications for the continued participation in the European Aviation Safety Agency system.

Railways: South West

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on improving of the reliability and availability of wifi and mobile connectivity on trains between (a) Penzance and London and (b) Taunton and Bristol.

Paul Maynard: Great Western is providing free Wi-Fi on a large majority of their services and Cross Country will be providing this from April 2018. Our priority is for passengers to experience a reliable and highly available mobile service and we will be securing this within future franchises. Great Western’s new franchise is due to start from December 2019. Cross Country’s new franchise is due to start from June 2019.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with drone manufacturers on the use of mapping services for geo-fencing.

Mr John Hayes: Geo-fencing capabilities require accurate and up-to-date mapping information including details of restricted airspace. The Department for Transport is in discussion with manufacturers, other Government departments and subject matter experts to develop processes to ensure this information can be provided in an appropriate and assured way. Many of the leading drone manufacturers already include forms of geo-fencing capability on their drones. However, as geo-fencing is not infallible, the Department for Transport is also in discussions with manufacturers to explore how it and other technical safety measures might be improved. The Government has just closed a consultation on the future safe use of drones in the UK, which included a proposal to require geo-fencing to be installed on all commercially sold drones. The Department will produce its conclusions from the consultation in the summer of this year.

Rolling Stock: North of England

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department is making in replacing pacer trains.

Paul Maynard: The Department recognises that Pacers fall short of passengers’ expectations and so required bidders for the Northern franchise to phase them out. Arriva Rail North are investing £400 million in 281 brand new air-conditioned carriages, more than double the minimum required in the government’s invitation to tender, and remain on track to deliver the complete removal of the outdated and unpopular Pacers by the end of 2019 at the latest.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Communities and Local Government: Senior Civil Servants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of senior civil servants of his Department are (a) men, (b) women, (c) disabled, (d) from working-class backgrounds and (e) from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

Mr Marcus Jones: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 06 March 2017.The correct answer should have been:

The Office for National Statistics annually publish Civil Service employment statistics which includes a breakdown of the Department's officials split by ethnicity, gender, and disability status. This information Information on the Department's Senior Civil Servants (SCS) split by gender can be found in Table 22 of the annual statistical bulletin on the Office for National Statistics website. Please note all published figures are rounded up to the nearest 10:https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/civilservicestatisticsThe proportion of SCS that were disabled at the same date was 6.6 per cent (less than 10 staff); and the proportion of SCS from a BAME background was 5.1 per cent (less than 10 staff).Information about the socio-economic background of staff in my department is not held centrally and is therefore not available.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Office for National Statistics annually publish Civil Service employment statistics which includes a breakdown of the Department's officials split by ethnicity, gender, and disability status. This information Information on the Department's Senior Civil Servants (SCS) split by gender can be found in Table 22 of the annual statistical bulletin on the Office for National Statistics website. Please note all published figures are rounded up to the nearest 10:https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/civilservicestatisticsThe proportion of SCS that were disabled at the same date was 6.6 per cent (less than 10 staff); and the proportion of SCS from a BAME background was 5.1 per cent (less than 10 staff).Information about the socio-economic background of staff in my department is not held centrally and is therefore not available.

Airports: Planning Permission

Iain Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many applications to open new general aviation airfields have been received by UK planning authorities in the last five years.

Gavin Barwell: The information requested is not held by the Department.The Department collects quarterly figures on the number of planning applications received by English local authorities. These data are not sufficiently granular to identify those relating to new general aviation airfields.Planning is a devolved matter.

Communities and Local Government: Senior Civil Servants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2017 to Question 65551, where in the Office for National Statistics Civil Service employment statistics it states what proportion of senior civil servants in his Department are (a) men, (b) women, (c) disabled and (d) from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

Mr Marcus Jones: An error was identified in the answer to Question UIN 65551 and this has now been corrected.

Communities and Local Government: Meetings

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have had with (i) businesses and (ii) registered charities in each of the last five years.

Mr Marcus Jones: Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretary meetings with external organisations are published routinely on gov.uk and can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dclg-ministerial-datahttps://www.gov.uk/government/collections/business-expenses-and-hospitality-for-dclg-senior-officialsInformation about meetings between officials, businesses and charities are not centrally held and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Housing Benefit: Young People

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of ending the automatic entitlement to housing benefit for 18 to 21 year olds on the effectiveness of the measures in clauses 4 and 5 of the Homelessness Reduction Bill.

Mr Marcus Jones: The ending of automatic entitlement to Universal Credit housing cost will only affect out of work claimants under new claims to Universal Credit in Full Service areas. Claimants on Housing Benefit will be unaffected.The aims of the policy are to stop young people slipping straight into a life on benefits, and to ensure there is parity and fairness between employed young people who may not be able to afford to leave the family home and unemployed young people who, with the aid of out of work benefits, can.However, Government recognises that some young people cannot remain living at home which is why the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Communities and Local Government have worked together with a wide range of stakeholders to develop a fair and robust set of exemptions to protect the most vulnerable, including young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.These include exemptions for young people in temporary accommodation and for those where it is inappropriate to live with their parents. Young people placed in supported housing, which is often used by local authorities to prevent or relieve homelessness, are not affected by this measure because they receive housing benefit. The detail of the funding arrangements for supported housing from 2019-20 onwards are still being worked through but we are very mindful of the needs of providers and the vulnerable young people they support.The Government’s intention is that young people who cannot return to the family home can get help with housing costs quickly and easily and we will ensure Jobcentres and Service Centres have the guidance they need to make that happen. This will include them taking into account third party evidence that it is inappropriate for a young person to live with their parents. We know it is important that landlords have confidence in that process so they can continue to let properties to this group. We will be providing messages for landlords on gov.uk and as part of the engagement process in new Universal Credit areas.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Nuclear Disarmament

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK will be represented at the proposed 2017 UN Conference to negotiate a global ban on nuclear weapons; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: I refer the Hon. Member to my answer to Written Question 66495.

Turkey: Human Rights

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what review process was undertaken to establish that Turkey should not be designated as one of the 30 Human Rights Priority Countries.

Sir Alan Duncan: The decision on whether a country is included in the Annual Human Rights Report as a Priority Country is based on the human rights situation in the country, assessed against objective international criteria; the trajectory of change; and the extent of the UK's work on human rights in that country. The FCO designated 30 Human Rights Priority Countries in 2016. As we set out then, our expectation is to continue to focus on those countries for the duration of this Parliament in order to ensure that the Governments human rights work has the strategic direction and consistency. We of course continue to monitor the human rights situation in Turkey.

Nuclear Disarmament

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it his policy to send a UK representative to the March 2017 UN Conference to negotiate a ban on nuclear weapons.

Sir Alan Duncan: I refer the Hon. Member to my answer to Written Question 66495.

Companies: Ownership

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies introduce public registers of beneficial ownership; and whether he will set a timetable for their introduction.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK Government works closely with the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies on tax and transparency issues. Our priority is the implementation of the new bilateral arrangements concluded with them in 2016, which are due to come into effect by June this year. Under these arrangements, Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories with a financial centre have committed to establish, where they have not already done so, central registers of beneficial ownership information or similarly effective systems, and to give UK law enforcement and tax authorities near real-time access to beneficial ownership information on corporate and legal entities incorporated in their jurisdictions. Nevertheless, it remains the Government’s ambition for public registers to become the global standard. If this happens, we would expect the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to follow suit.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Secondment

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time staff in his Department have been seconded from (i) businesses and (ii) charities.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​We currently have fewer than ten colleagues on inward secondment to the FCO from a organisation outside the Civil Service. We do not confirm the precise numbers, or whether they are full or part-time staff, as this might enable individual identities to be revealed.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Meetings

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have had with (i) businesses and (ii) registered charities in each of the last five years.

Sir Alan Duncan: Details of Ministers' meetings with businesses and registered charities are published in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's quarterly return on ministerial meetings with external organisations. The returns for the five years to September 2016, the most recent date for which information has been published, can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/minister-dataDetails of officials' meetings with external organisations are not held centrally and to collate such information would incur disproportionate cost.

Nuclear Disarmament

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether non-participation in the March 2017 UN Conference to Negotiate a Ban on Nuclear Weapons is compliant with the UK's obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The UK is complying with its obligations under the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Heart Diseases

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of heart disease rates on (a) life expectancy and (b) economic growth in developing countries.

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to improve the availability of genetic testing for heart disease in developing countries.

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent deaths from heart disease in developing countries.

James Wharton: As part of DFID’s commitment to achieving Global Goal 3 – ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing for all – we support developing countries to strengthen their health systems.The World Health Organisation estimates that Non Communicable Diseases, including cardiovascular disease, will result in cumulative economic losses of US$7 trillion over the next 15 years in low- and middle-income countries.The UK provides specific support to tackling deaths from heart disease, including through our Health Partnerships Scheme helping to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in Ethiopia. DFID does not provide any direct support for provision of genetic testing for heart disease in developing countries.

Department for Education

Children: Social Services

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has assessed the potential merits of introducing a helpline for children within the social care system to call or text in emergency situations.

Edward Timpson: The Department funds the NSPCC for Childline and we have awarded them £2m a year up to 2020. Childline is a free 24-hour counselling service for children and young people and deals with any issue that is causing a child distress or concern.

Children: Social Services

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a method of anonymous feedback for children who have been through the social care system on the failings and successes of that system.

Edward Timpson: Local authority children’s services or children’s social care providers should ensure that they listen to the views of children and Ofsted will look for evidence of this in their inspection. Ofsted will ask local authorities or providers to arrange for opportunities for inspectors to talk directly with children about their experiences, in person or by telephone, this will give the opportunity for children to provide anonymous feedback about their experiences.Additionally, the Department for Education funds the NSPCC to run Childline, which can take anonymous feedback from children on their experiences of the social care system. The NSPCC provides aggregated data to the Department.

Free Schools: Land

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2017 to Question 64751, what the estimated value is of all land acquired to free schools.

Edward Timpson: A free school is a type of academy and is accountable through the same mechanisms as an academy, principally the funding agreement between the Secretary of State and the academy trust that operates the free school. Many free schools are part of a multi-academy trust (MAT). Free schools are delivering good quality places in areas where these are needed.The value of academy trusts’ land and buildings recorded in the Education Funding Agency’s most recent annual report is £43.3bn.

Children: Chronic Illnesses

Danny Kinahan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure schools have policies in place to look after children with medical conditions.

Edward Timpson: We know how important it is that children with medical conditions are supported to enjoy a full education. That is why we introduced a new duty to require governing bodies to make arrangements to support pupils with medical conditions and have provided statutory guidance outlining schools’ responsibilities in this area. We continue to work with Ofsted, and organisations such as the Health Conditions in Schools Alliance who have experience in supporting children with medical conditions, to help raise awareness of the duty.

Ofsted: Staff

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure more teachers from non-leadership backgrounds are recruited as Ofsted inspectors.

Nick Gibb: This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to you and a copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

Ministry of Justice

Probation: Wales

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders supervised by (a) the National Probation Service and (b) the Community Rehabilitation Company in Wales were taken back to prison having missed appointments in (i) 2014, (ii) 2015 and (iii) 2016.

Mr Sam Gyimah: We do not hold data on reason for recall centrally. Failure to attend appointments would be recorded as either the generic ‘failure to comply’ or the specific ‘failure to register’ where the recall was related to failing to attend the initial post-release appointment. It would not be possible to collate how many of the ‘failure to comply/register’ recalls were in relation to breached curfews without checking each individual case. The information therefore can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Discipline

Mr Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to review the capability of (a) HM Prison Service and (b) contracted-out prisons to respond to incidents of concerted indiscipline.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Concerted indiscipline is defined as an incident in which two or more prisoners act together in defiance of a lawful instruction or against the requirements of the regime of the establishment. Such incidents can cover wide range of circumstances, with most quickly resolved locally but others requiring varying levels of more significant intervention. We are continually reviewing prisons across the public and private estates, and supporting them to mitigate the risk of serious incidents and provide effective responses to incidents that do occur. This process draws on a wide range of local data and intelligence reported daily by Governors, and assessed alongside other data, such as independent assessments from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons. I review this data regularly with the Chief Executive and other senior leaders. Interventions available to prevent risks escalating include deploying extra staff on detached duty and overtime, installing extra CCTV, or making fast improvements to building facilities where damage presents risks. Measures are also taken when appropriate to segregate prisoners, provide extra detection or blocking equipment and provide additional search teams. Under the mutual aid process, there are agreements between both public and private prisons which enable them to support each other to respond to significant incidents effectively. If the incident is significant enough, we bolster the local response by deploying specialist (Tornado) teams. Following this, we help stabilise prisons after incidents by transferring disruptive prisoners. In response to incidents in late 2016 we are improving this existing capability by resourcing two additional, national dog teams to support more perimeter patrols, helping prevent throw overs and drone operations. We are also increasing the number of Tornado-trained staff by 10%. In addition, as part of our wider investment in staffing levels we are increasing intelligence and dedicated search capability at prison level. In the longer-term, we are improving prisons’ capacity to mitigate and respond to risks of incidents by increasing prison officer numbers by 2,500 and introducing of a new offender management model. Under this model, residential officers in public sector prisons will have a caseload of 6 prisoners each to support and challenge. We expect private prisons to offer a model which also provides one-to-one support for each prisoner.

Prisons: Discipline

Mr Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions in the last year private prisons have required the support of HM Prison Service to deal with concerted indiscipline.

Mr Sam Gyimah: HM Prison Service, and other contracted establishment resources, have been deployed to contracted prisons, as part of our established mutual aid arrangements, to assist with the resolution of concerted indiscipline on three occasions within the last twelve months. The details are as follows;17 July 2016 Doncaster01 September 2016 Lowdham Grange16 December 2016 Birmingham On each occasion the National Tactical Response Group were also deployed to provide specialist incident management support including advanced tactical options, advice, planning and development of intervention options.

Domestic Violence Protection Orders

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many domestic violence protection orders have been made by the courts in each year since those orders March 2014.

Sir Oliver Heald: The table below shows the available information on the number of orders issued during the period in question. (Data are only available from December 2014 as the Magistrates’ Courts case management and management information systems only began separately recording Domestic Violence Protection Orders from that date.) On 17 February, the Prime Minister announced plans for a major new programme of work leading towards bringing forward a Domestic Violence and Abuse Act. This will look at what more can be done to support victims of domestic violence and abuse, especially in the way the law, and legal procedures, currently work for such victims.  Dec 14 - March 2015April 15 - March 2016 Domestic Violence Protection Orders1,1503,951 Notes:   The data are based on the case completion date.  The report counts the number of cases where a Domestic Violence Protection Order was made, not the number of defendants.The report counts all cases where the 'DVPO' (Domestic Violence Protection Order) result code was applied.The data provided is the most recent available and for that reason might differ slightly from any previously published information.Data are taken from a live management information system and can change over time.Data are management information and are not subject to the same level of checks as official statistics.The data provided have been extracted specifically to answer this question and have not been cross referenced with case files.Data are only available from December 2014 as the Magistrates’ Courts case management and management information systems only began recording a specific DVPO Result Code from that date. Prior to December 2014, a generic code was used to record Domestic Violence Protection Orders.

Leader of the House

Short Money

John Spellar: To ask the Leader of the House, when he plans to publish the Short money funding allocation to Opposition political parties for the 2017-18 financial year.

Mr David Lidington: Short Money and Representative Money figures will be published by the House authorities once the necessary figures on which they are based are available. These figures now include the relevant IPSA staffing budget used to calculate the floor and ceiling amounts for smaller parties.I have asked the House authorities to ensure that the hon Member is sent details of the allocation once it is determined.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Broadband: Chipping Barnet

Mrs Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to improve access to high-speed broadband in suburban areas such as Chipping Barnet.

Matt Hancock: We are committed to delivering superfast broadband and better mobile connectivity to the United Kingdom. In the constituency of Chipping Barnet over 97% of the constituency can currently get superfast broadband from a diverse range of suppliers. More than 4.3 million homes and businesses have now been reached by the Government’s nationwide rollout of superfast broadband. Through the Government’s Better Broadband Scheme https://basicbroadbandchecker.culture.gov.uk/ all homes and businesses can now access better broadband (speeds of 2 Megabits per second). To ensure that no one is left behind, the Government is also introducing a new broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) within this Parliament. The USO will give households and businesses the legal right to request a broadband connection with speeds of at least 10 Megabits, no matter where they live or work.

BBC Board: Wales

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what consultation the Government undertook with the Welsh Government before deciding not to appoint a representative for Wales on the BBC Board.

Matt Hancock: The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport wrote to the Welsh Minister for Lifelong Learning and Welsh Language in October 2016 to invite Welsh Government representation on the selection panel for the BBC Board member for Wales, and inviting comments on the draft role specification. The Welsh Government’s representative sat on both sift and interview panels for the role and agreed on the list of appointable candidates. The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport wrote to the Welsh Minister for Lifelong Learning and Welsh Language on 27th February 2017 seeking agreement with the Secretary of State’s preferred candidate, in accordance with Clause 23 (9) of the BBC Charter. On 28th February 2017, the Welsh Minister for Lifelong Learning and Welsh Language wrote to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport stating that the Welsh Government was unable to endorse the preferred candidate, despite the Welsh Government representatives having deemed the candidate as appointable at interview. This is very unfortunate, and no good reason has been given.

BBC Board: Wales

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the new timetable is for the appointment of the representative for Wales on the BBC Board.

Matt Hancock: We hope the Welsh Government will withdraw their objection, which is entirely unreasonable. A new competition will be run as soon as possible.

Home Office

Home Office: Information Officers

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff in her Department are employed in media and communications roles; and what the cost to the public purse was for the salaries of those staff in each of the last 10 years.

Sarah Newton: As of 31 January 2017 the central communication directorate employed 152.7FTE staff (156 people) as communications and media staff.36 staff are also employed in communications roles in RICU (Research, Information and Communications Unit).On 01 April 2010 the Home Office employed 324 staff in communication roles across the central communication function, UK Border Agency (UKBA) and Identity and Passport Service .Salary costs for the communication directorate and RICU over the last 6 years are in the attached table.  2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-16Salary* costs£11,989,256£11,256,647£11,005,522£11,861,727£12,134,539£12,566,713 *These figures include some non communications support staffIn 2013 staff previously embedded in UK Border Agency became part of communication directorate and in 2015 staff previously embedded in HM Passport Office became part of communication directorate.Salary costs are not available pre 2010-11.

Proceeds of Crime: Nigeria

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total value is of recovered assets belonging to politically exposed persons from Nigeria through civil recovery orders by the National Crime Agency since 2015.

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) restraint, (b) confiscation, (c) civil recovery and (d) property freezing orders the National Crime Agency has in place in relation to assets belonging to politically exposed persons from Nigeria.

Mr Ben Wallace: The NCA does not hold information on the volume or value of assets which have been restrained, confiscated or subject to civil recovery or property freezing orders by the categories described in the question. The nationality of the individual is not routinely recorded, as it is not always possible to obtain it, and they do not differentiate on the basis of politically exposed persons.

Immigration: Pakistan

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people resident in Pakistan applied for (a) visitor visas and (b) permanent settlement in each year since 2010.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Home Office does not collate data on visa applications made by residency in Pakistan. The Home Office records data by country of nationality.Entry clearance visa applications and resolution by Pakistan nationals can be found in our published statistics available herehttps://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2016

HM Passport Office

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2017 to Question 65319, on HM Passport Office, what the scope is of the review referred to; and when she plans for that review to be completed.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The scope of the review will be to determine (a) what level of service provision is required, balancing the customer and value for money requirements, (b) what would represent an effective and efficient business process, and (c) what lessons can be learned from other initiatives.It is not currently anticipated that we will complete such a review until the end of the year.

Domestic Violence Protection Orders

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many domestic violence protection notices have been issued by each police force in each year since March 2014.

Sarah Newton: Domestic Violence Protection Notices (DVPNs) were rolled out across all 43 police forces in England Wales from 8 March 2014. Latest figures on DVPNs were published in March 2016, following the Home Office assessment of the pilot scheme. These figures show that 3,337 DVPNs were issued up to December 2014.Figures on numbers of DVPNs issued by police forces have been added to the Annual Data Requirement and these are planned to be published in the coming year by the Office for National Statistics.

Bryn Alyn Community

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse has been of Operation Pallial's investigation into Peter Steen, Dafydd Vevar, Alan Challenor, Keith Evans, Kelvin Horrobin, Denis Jones and Aideen Jones, formally residential care staff of Bryn Alyn Community; and what further costs have been incurred by the (a) Police, (b) Crown Prosecution Service and (c) courts in relation to that investigation.

Brandon Lewis: Operation Pallial is an independent investigation by the National Crime Agency. The policing costs of the investigation were £3.7 million covering the financial years 2012/13 until 2015/16. The estimated costs for 2016/17 are £730,000. The Home Office does not hold information on the costs in respect of individual strands of this operation or the costs relating to the police, Crown Prosecution Service or the courts

HM Treasury

VAT: Training

Kelly Tolhurst: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to reduce VAT on flight training and general aviation-related mechanical or engineering education programmes.

Jane Ellison: Where education is provided for no charge it is outside the scope of VAT. Where an eligible body such as a university or a further education college charges for supplies of vocational training, or school, higher, or further education, that supply will be exempt from VAT. While all taxes are kept under review, there are no plans to provide further VAT relief for flight training and general aviation-related mechanical or engineering education programmes.

Excise Duties: Motor Vehicles

Sir Gerald Howarth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the finding of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association report on the economic impact of changes to the vehicle excise duty, published in February 2017, that those changes will result in rental companies purchasing 24,800 fewer vehicles in 2017 compared with 2016.

Jane Ellison: The Government is fully committed to successful delivery of the VED reforms, which ensure that all cars other than ones which emit zero-emissions will contribute. At present, cars that emit less than 130g/km of carbon pay no VED in the first year. This is not sustainable at a time when the average new car emits 120g/km. The Government appreciates this will affect car buyers such as rental companies who may sell vehicles in less than a year. The rules around VED refunds have not changed compared to the current system.

Self-employed: Entertainers

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his proposals on Making Tax Digital, published in December 2015, for what reasons the threshold of an income of £10,000 was agreed; and what assessment he has made of the effect of that threshold on self-employed entertainment sector workers.

Jane Ellison: Making Tax Digital for Businesses (MTDfB) will modernise the tax system and make it easier for businesses to get their tax right. A deferral of one year for unincorporated businesses below the VAT threshold was announced at Spring Budget 2017. The £10,000 threshold was set after considering evidence both about the size of the business population and about the composition of the tax gap. The Government published an updated impact assessment on 8 March alongside Spring Budget 2017. This estimated the impacts averaged across the entire unincorporated business population, using established models, consultation feedback, stakeholder engagement and internal insight.

Excise Duties: Tobacco

Philip Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions the Financial Secretary to the Treasury has had on tobacco related taxation with representatives of (a) the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health and (b) Action on Smoking and Health.

Jane Ellison: HM Treasury Ministers receive written submissions from a wide range of stakeholders and all of these representations are taken into consideration as part of the policy making process. HM Treasury regularly publishes a list of Ministerial meetings with external organisations, which can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

Equity Release: Advisory Services

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the private finance industry on how to increase the number of financial advisers qualified to advise on equity release.

Simon Kirby: Treasury Ministers and officials have discussions with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

VAT: Sixth Form Colleges

Alex Chalk: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on sixth form colleges of being ineligible for VAT registration.

Jane Ellison: Sixth form colleges generally make supplies that are outside the scope of VAT. They can also make both exempt and taxable supplies depending upon their individual circumstances. Any organisation that makes taxable supplies may choose to register for VAT, even if the annual value of those supplies is below the VAT registration threshold. An organisation must register for VAT if the annual value of their taxable supplies is above the VAT registration threshold. The VAT registration threshold is currently set at £83,000 and will increase to £85,000 with effect from 1 April 2017.

Tax Havens

Ruth Cadbury: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish a plan to stop the use of tax havens including containing steps to help UK-linked tax havens transition towards other types of economies and steps to deter UK companies from using tax havens.

Jane Ellison: The Government is at the forefront of global action to tackle harmful tax practices, through implementing the agreed Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project outcomes, the OECD’s new Common Reporting Standard (CRS), and the development of new beneficial ownership information standards. Thanks to UK leadership, all Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories with financial centres have committed to hold beneficial ownership information in central registers or similarly effective systems, and to implement the new CRS one year earlier than the rest of the world. The Government is fully engaged in discussions on international tax blacklists in the EU and the G20/OECD to encourage the small handful of jurisdictions that have not adopted agreed transparency standards to do so.

Treasury: Secondment

Susan Elan Jones: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time staff in his Department have been seconded from (i) businesses and (ii) charities.

Simon Kirby: HM Treasury currently have six full-time staff seconded in from private businesses and none from charities. There are no part-time secondments.

Department for Exiting the European Union

State Retirement Pensions: British Nationals Abroad

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions he has had with his Cabinet colleagues on maintaining automatic annual increases in the state pensions of UK residents living in other EU countries after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr David Jones: The Secretary of State and I have regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues, including the Secretary of State for the Department for Work and Pensions, on their areas of responsibility where there is a link to the exit negotiations. The reciprocal entitlements that will apply following the UK’s exit are subject to the wider negotiation on our future relationship with the EU. We will approach negotiations with the full intention of securing a deal that delivers the best possible outcome for the UK and its nationals wherever they are living. It goes without saying that we want a smooth and orderly exit from the EU, and will look at the best way to deliver that.

Immigration: EEA Nationals

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether negotiations to secure the rights of EU citizens resident in the UK after the UK leaves the EU will also include securing the rights of EEA citizens who reside in the UK.

Mr David Jones: Reaching an early agreement to secure the status of EU, EEA and Swiss nationals in the UK is a top priority for the government. The only circumstance in which this would not be possible is if the status of UK nationals is not protected in return.The government recognises and values the important contribution made by EU and other non-UK citizens who work, study and live in the UK.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Secondment

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time staff in his Department have been seconded from (i) businesses and (ii) charities.

Mr David Jones: The department has sourced a large proportion of experienced staff from across Whitehall and a number of secondees from the private sector and the wider public sector. We are not in a position to give a final total for particular groups of staff as recruitment is ongoing and numbers are regularly changing. The Department for Exiting the European Union now has over 300 staff, and is growing fast.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Meetings

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have had with (i) businesses and (ii) registered charities since his Department was established.

Mr David Jones: We have pursued a wide-ranging programme of engagement since the Department was created and we are speaking to a wide range of organisations. This includes charitable organisations, in order to build a national consensus around our negotiating position, establish their priorities and understand their concerns. Details of Ministerial Meetings will be published in the Department's Quarterly Transparency Returns, which will be made publicly va.iable on GOV.UK.

Cross Border Cooperation: Republic of Ireland

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, when he last discussed cross-border issues resulting from the UK leaving the EU with representatives from the Republic of Ireland.

Mr David Jones: The Prime Minister has met with the Taoiseach three times and the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU met with Irish Ministers, including the Taoiseach, Tanaiste, Foreign and Europe Ministers, in Dublin last September.The Government remains committed to working with the Irish Government. As the Prime Minister said in her Lancaster House speech and the Government set out in the White Paper, maintaining our strong and historic ties with Ireland will be an important priority for the UK in the talks ahead.

Department for International Trade

UK Trade and Investment: Staff

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the turnover rate for UK Trade and Investment local-hire staff in overseas postings has been in each of the last three years.

Mark Garnier: The records for local hire staff in overseas postings are not held centrally by the Department for International Trade. In order to obtain this information would incur disproportionate costs.

Department of Health

NHS: Finance

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Marginal Rate Emergency Tariff (MRET) fund reinvestment in reducing emergency admissions for specialist services pathways such as neuromuscular services; and whether MRET funding is the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups or NHS England.

Mr Philip Dunne: NHS England and Monitor undertook a review of the marginal rate emergency rule in 2013. The findings from this review informed a number of changes to the operation of the policy. These changes were introduced in 2014/15. The review did not look explicitly at the effectiveness of the marginal rate emergency rule fund reinvestment in reducing emergency admissions for specialist services pathways such as neuromuscular services. However it noted that as specialist activity cannot be demand managed, the effectiveness of the marginal rate to incentivise reducing emergency admissions for specialist services is limited. Marginal rate emergency tariff (MRET) funding is administered by NHS England. The MRET applies to activity commissioned by clinical commissioning groups and NHS England, though some activity is explicitly excluded from the scope of the rule, such as activity for which there is no national price; and accident and emergency attendances.

Pathology: Staff

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of pathologists.

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to increase the number of pathologists available to conduct post-mortem examinations for coroners.

Mr Philip Dunne: Responsibility for staffing levels rests with individual National Health Service trusts and their boards who are best placed to decide how many staff they need to provide a given service, taking into account skill mix and efficiency. Working with local providers, it is Health Education England’s responsibility to determine the appropriate numbers of students the NHS needs in training on an annual basis. Its latest Workforce Plan for England covering the period 2016/17 is available in this link:https://www.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Workforce%20Plan%20for%20England%202016-17.pdf The most recent NHS workforce statistics from NHS Digital for staff working in trusts and clinical commissioning groups shows that the full time equivalent number of doctors within the pathology specialty group is 4,125 representing an increase of more than 11% increase since May 2010.